Grieving the loss of two sons in the invasion of France in 1944, one mother received a blessing from God that would comfort her the rest of her life.
Bedford and Raymond Hoback were one of 33 sets of brothers fighting together on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944.
The two brothers were part of Company A, 116th Regiment, 29th Infantry Division.
Their sister, Lucille Boggess, says the men joined the National Guard because they wanted to serve their country.
Not only was Hoback a family patriotic, but devoutly Christian, as well.
“Raymond received a Bible from my mother as a Christmas gift when he was eighteen. Receiving your own Bible was to undergo a rite of passage, and we took it seriously,” Lucille said.
She says she knew her brother took his Bible with him when he left for the war.
The family followed news reports of the heavy fighting in early June 1944 as the allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy and pushed into France, but heard no word of their sons.
It was few weeks after D-Day, in mid-July, as they were getting ready to go to church, that they received devastating news – Bedford was killed in action.
“We were stunned,” Lucille said. “Scarcely comprehending the loss but painfully aware of my parents’ grief, I watched my mother’s tears begin, and my own followed.”
The next day another knock on their door informed them that Raymond was missing in action.
“Mom and Dad were overcome with grief and I along with them. To this moment I can remember nothing else that happened that day. Time simply stopped,” Lucille said.
Later, survivors from his company recalled seeing Raymond’s body in the surf. Like many others, it was carried out to sea and never recovered.
However, something else was found that the family believes was a sign of Divine Providence, of God comforting them in their suffering.
A few days later, a package arrived at the family’s home with a letter from a soldier who came ashore the day after Raymond.
The letter read, “While walking on the beach on D-Day plus one,” he wrote, “…I came upon this Bible, and as most any person would do I picked it up from the sands to keep it from being destroyed.”
It was the Bible Raymond had been given for Christmas in 1938, which his mother treasured for the rest of her life and his sister still treasures today.
